Mr. Adde arrived in Las-Anod on Sunday under a military convoy consisting of over 40 technicals (battle-wagons mounted with heavy machine guns). He also brought with him at least 200 rifles and large quantities of ammunition.

Shortly after his arrival, Adde announced that he was going to convoy into Buhoodle, a district town in Somaliland’s Togdheer region and about 130km southwest of Las-Anod. But the announcement sent tension soaring in Las-Anod prompting fears of fighting between Somaliland and Puntland forces.

Adde left Las-Anod on Wednesday heading for Buhoodle. However his convoy traveled only as far as Kalabaydh, a village about 35km south west of Las-Anod before putting off his visit to Buhoodle. The decision not to go ahead with the visit was apparently taken following the arrival of new reinforcements for the Somaliland troops at the Las-Anod-Buhoodle road.

The Puntland warlord returned to Las-Anod on Thursday after distributing rifles and ammunition to tribal chieftains in Kalabaydh.

Puntland was founded in 1998 as a result of what initially had been a war-torn society project. The idea was to create a civilian administration for Somalia’s Bari region, inhabited by the Majerteen tribe. However the project was kidnapped by warlord Abdillahi Yusuf who turned it into a springboard for gaining power, crushing his political opponents and creating his own fiefdom.

By 2000 Abdillahi Yusuf unleashed an irredentist policy that sough the annexation of territories inhabited by Somaliland’s Harti population in parts of Sanag and Sool regions. He seized Las-Anod on December 2003.

Meanwhile Adde Muse is still in Las-Anod. He received more reinforcements from Garowe and Galkayo in the last 2 days. Though some prominent elders urged him not to go to Buhoodle so as to avoid confrontation with Somaliland, Adde was adamant that he would not cancel his visit.

The warlord also disclosed that he would visit eastern Sanag’s Badhan. However the plan suffered a setback following the announcement of the area’s traditional leaders that he wasn’t welcome.

Meanwhile the situation at Las-Anod remained very tense amid fears of an imminent bloody clash between Somaliland and Puntland troops around Las-Anod.

Source: Somaliland Times

Home | Contact us | Links | Archives